U.S. Vice President Joe Biden spoke to Maliki on January 18 to discuss Washington's support for Iraq's fight against Al-Qaeda.

Maliki has since blamed "treacherous" and “diabolical” countries in the Middle East for the ongoing violence in his country.

Maliki, who made the remarks in a speech in the southern city of Nasiriyah on January 19, did not single out any individual countries.

"Iraq is the target for some countries that are backing terrorism, and backing evil," he said. Maliki added that the "the whole world has united with us" to tackle terrorism "except some diabolical countries."

Iraqi officials have previously alleged that Saudi Arabia and Qatar have supported disaffected Sunnis in western Iraq when they have staged antigovernment protests in the past year.